Shugo Chara Fanfic: A Different Story
by InfinityYellow213
Summary: Ever since he was a child, Dane secretly dreamed about becoming a hero like his late uncle, but after fail after fail, his dream seems near the impossible...or is it? Follow Dane and his friends as they go through the struggles of high school and try to find meaning in an important time of their lives, in other words, their "would be selves." (Borderline Mature Themes and Swearing)
1. Chapter 1: First Day, Meet Dane

Well that stunk! XP...

My original Pokemon Fan fic bombed worse than( insert a bomb reference here) so I'm doing somtehing I can actually handle this time.

I love Shugo Chara! So why not write about it? It's in my top ten favorite anime series of all time, but enough about me. Here's what you want hear about: the fanfic

Don't worry, this isn't going to be some story starting with Mary Rose Pacifica Riley Junichi Kokoro being the lost twin sister of Amu and suddenly wakes up one day with 6 character eggs(insert character transformation here) and being the boyfriend of Kukai, Tadase, Ikuto, Kairi, and so forth.

This is purely a FAN story for leisure. I want to make this as realistic as possible because as we all know Shugo Chara can sometimes skim over some things, but regardless, its still good.

Now onto the actual fan fic! I have a deviant art account which has all the OC charas here!

*Link: gallery/50290308/OC-Charas

And don't worry, they're not recolors either. One hundred percent original!

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

_Three Mistakes._

_That's all that happened._

_He had made three painfully simple mistakes._

_If he would've been more careful, he could've lived a blissful life, fully unaware of what to come…_

_Then again…he still wondered…_

_If he were to not gloss over those mistakes, would he be here now?_

_Would he be alive?_

_Only time could tell._

_It all started three years ago, the first year of high school to be exact. That night, before anything could happen, was the closest memory that leads him onto his path._

_It was…as he called it…_

"_The beginning."_

* * *

_**Dane.**_

Dane could barely open his eyes. In the dream he believed he was having, the atmosphere proved to be harsh on the nearly blind teen.

"Ah!" Dane covered his eyes on instinct. Rubbing them, he attempted to look around again.

"W-What the hell is this place?" Dane lowered his head as he blinked multiple times in an attempt to adjust his vision. Carefully moving his head up, Dane examined the area around him.

From what he could decipher, Dane thought that the scenery was very, as he would call it, "girlish". He could see blurry sparkles exploding like fire crackers in one of those sappy romantic movies. He believed that behind them were what seemed to be décor of bright sparkles. He supposed that stars would be a more accurate description for them though, as they were pointier than the rest of the environment, and that he could pretty much mistake anything for everything else in his state.

"Ugh," The unfamiliar setting was taking a toll on him. "I can barely see as it is already and now I feel like I'm going to pass out…"

Dane grimaced holding a hand to his chest. He could barely support this feeling any longer. His legs gave in as he hit the ground on his knees.

"O-kay" Dane felt the need to vomit. The atmosphere was making him feel extremely uncomfortable and very nauseous. Looking at girly things never made him nauseous before (he could thank his sister for that) so what in heaven's name was happening to him?

It all had to be some dream…

Right?

At that moment, as if out of the blue, his answer came to him. A patch of light started forming just a few feet away from him.

"!" Dane attempted to move away from the source but his nauseous state hindered him from doing so. Still, his mind continued to try to push him away from the source.

"I don't know what that is, but…"

Dane continued to force himself push back, but the more he did, they less progress he felt that he was making. His movements didn't seem to have an effect at all.

**Don't be scared….**

The voice echoed throughout the sparkly void. Dane stopped moving, but only to interpret what the voice just said.

"What?" Dane felt like collapsing right there and now. This was all too much for him.

**It's all right….**

"It's all right"? Dane muttered to himself in confusion.

…**to screw up!**

Dane calmed down enough and pushed words out of his mouth to make a complete sentence, "It's… all right to screw up"? "Wait! What does that mean?!"

To Dane's surprise, the voice chuckled. After hearing that, he could sense a nostalgic tone to this voice.

Had he…

… Heard this before?

**You'll see in a bit!**

Dane blinked. Drossiness overcame his body rapidly. His senses dulled as he fell face first to the ground. The last thing he could unquestionably remember was the image he saw. The empty space had finally filled to reveal an object he'd never dream of thinking or seeing of at the time.

An egg.

* * *

"DANE! WAKE UP!"

Dane jumped on all fours as he fell off the bed. Twisting and turning around, his senses were over the place.

"Who, what, where, why-

A pair of soft, tanned fingers lifted up the pillow from his face. Returning to reality, he saw none other, than his sister Kali. He prepared to yell at her for waking him up early during the summertime, but his thoughts slowly went to what his sister was wearing.

She wore black band t-shirt that Dane didn't know the name of, as well as one of those blue jean jacket with those secret pocket holes. Dane figured it was probably to sneak an art supply or something interesting in it. It would be whatever pleased Kali.

She also wore a blue skirt and bicycle shorts underneath. As well as one of those shoe brands Dane could care less about. He faintly remembered them being called, "Ugs". Overall, she looked very artsy and sporty. Two things that described Kali appropriately.

Kali gave a face of slight annoyance and relief, "Finally!" She yawned as she stretched her arms out, "I was started to get worried I'd have to dunk you in water again. I didn't feel like getting wet this morning."

Dane blinked before sighing in defeat, "Am I really that pathetic that you were going to do that?"

Kali gave Dane a somewhat sympathetic look, "Is it bad that I say yes?"

"Not really."

"Then….Okay! You are kind of pathetic that way…but at least you have other talents…right?"

Dane gave Kali his signature "let's stop now" look. They both sighed in unison, and afterwards, chuckled a bit.

"Alright, now where's mom? I know you didn't decide wake me up by your own free will."

"Well," Dane listened in to see if Kali would lie to him. He had a tendency of covering herself up whenever she did something nice for somebody. Dane never knew why she would continue to do that, even though most people were thankful for her help, but he only inquired that it was because she was shy.

"Mom went to work early today so we have to take the bus."

"What?" Dane blinked a couple of times. He could tell his sister wasn't lying, but something didn't click right.

"You know school's today, right?"

Dane groaned in response. "That's right…wait, what time is it?"

"6:30"

Dane's eyes widened in horror.

"Kali, the bus comes in 15 minutes!"

"What! Mom said it comes late for high schoolers!" Kali shrieked as she regrouped her thoughts. "That's why I decided to be easy on you for once!"

"No, it doesn't! You know she sucks with time! Now get going, we already wasted 3 minutes in this stupid conversation!"

"Right!" Kali bolted out the door and slammed it behind.

Dane quickly grabbed a random group of clothes and threw them together in a makeshift outfit.

The result was a black leather jacket, plain white –tee, blue ripped jeans, and converse sneakers. Looking at the dresser mirror, he fumbled with the comb a bit before finally getting his hair in a place that he deemed decent. Double checking, he adjusted his glasses and nodded systematically.

"Great, *huff* this works."

He thanked God that he packed his bag the night prior and ran to the bedroom door.

"…"

He looked around his room for a brief moment. Did he hear something just now?

Shrugging it off, Dane opened the door and left without slamming it behind.

* * *

Dane and Kali sighed in relief as they came off the bus. They barely had any breakfast, as Kali made burnt toast and warm orange juice for them to eat. Dane complained for a brief moment about Kali's terrible cooking skills, but despite it, he ate the food anyway. He was a little too hungry to complain much about it. Their rush seemed to mellow out a bit, but only for a minute. After a bit, they ran out the door after hearing the bus engine. In the end, they barely caught the bus, as the driver barely noticed them. The ride on the bus only seemed to last a minute as by the time Dane decided to look out his window; they were stationed at a familiar place, Middletown High School.

Kali leaped off the bus with renewed energy. Dane followed behind, but in a calmer manner.

"I can't believe it!" Kali smiled as she stretched her arms once more. "Middletown High School! I've waited forevvvver for this! What do you think Dane? You think the rumors are true?" Kali stuck her face uncomfortably close to Dane's.

"Fights, sports drama, paranormal activity, a vast variety of clubs! I can't wait!" Kali cheered with glee. Dane noticed other people beginning to stare.

"Kali," Dane pushed his sister away from his face, "you know those are probably fabricated, right?"

Kali pouted a bit before responding, "So? It adds some fun to high school! After all, it's only 4 years we got together before life happens. Then I'll have to decide what I want to do for the next 80 years of my life. If, I even live that long…" Kali made a babyish face as she moved away from Dane.

Dane chuckled a bit, "you and your sense of logic, I really don't think that-

"Howdy, Kali!"

A voice interrupted. It was a familiar dirty blonde-haired girl. She wore a pale green sweater with butterfly designs, a pink skirt just a little above her knees, and white, dusty cowboy boots.

"Marie!" Kali yelled back as her friend approached. They both hugged each other and let go.

"It's been' while, why haven't you called me ove' the summer? We need to hang out more!" Marie cheered.

"Sorry, I've been busy lately, with sports, art, stuff, …Dane."

Marie moved towards Dane and stood very close to him. He blushed a bit in embarrassment.

"So you're th'one causing Kali all th' trouble? You really need to let loose sometimes, Daner!" Marie teased in her regular southern accent. It was her common troupe to call Dane, Daner.

"That's what I tell him!" Kali continued.

Dane grew even more irritated. He pushed up his glasses, "I'm not bothering anybody, and Kali's the one that needs to learn how to handle her hobbies. She leaves everything all over the place at home! _It's. Annoying."_

Kali's enthusiasm quickly dispersed.

"You wanna start something?"

"I'm not scared of you."

Marie could see the atmosphere between the two getting bad fairly quickly.

"Okay, let's go Kali, classes are going to start soon and we don't wanna start off the wrong foot, see you later, Daner!

Marie slurred as she pushed Kali away, making the heavy atmosphere around them disappear.

"Hey, you right?" A big arm grabbed his neck playfully from behind.

Dane turned around to see two familiar faces, they belonged to his childhood friends of Francis and Heather. Francis (or a.k.a Franc) wore a gray hoodie with a generic metal band logo on it. He also wore black jeans and sneakers to match the logo's color. On his left hand, he wore a particular gold watch which he was _never _seen without.

Heather, the girl of the group, wore something similar to Dane's clothes. She had a red cardigan, mostly yellow and pink shirt underneath, and blue jeans that covered her white dress shoes.

"Hey guys." Dane casually remarked.

Franc expression quickly changed from clam to irritated,

"Hey guys"?

"Hey guys"?!

Franc went in front of Dane and gave a look of absolute disgust.

"You haven't picked up your phone all summer…a-and that's what you say?" Franc sarcastically noted.

Dane looked flabbergasted, "What?! I answered my phone all summer! What's your problem?"

"Like rarely! You barely answered at all!"

Heather sighed as she went in between the two.

"Just give him a break Francis, he probably has more stuff to worry about than you think. If you just wanted to speak with him in the first place, why don't you just go over to his house and talk with him in person?"

Frank gave a relatively pissed face. "First, I keep telling you to stop calling me Francis. Second, _you know_ I have to help ma and pa a lot with the restaurant during the summer."

"It was just a suggestion…" Heather's words dwindled.

"Anyways," Franc stated changing the mood, "We have a lot of lost time to make up with! We need to really hang out more!"

Dane smiled a bit, He was sincerely glad to be with his two friends.

"…"

Dane's looked around absentmindedly. All he could see was the remaining students coming off the buses and going into the school.

"HEY!"

Dane flinched in response to Franc's clapping.

"You all right? You're spacing out on me here!" Dane glanced at Heather who also seemed slightly intrigued with Dane's behavior.

"Yeah, I'm fine…just tired. I had to rush out to the bus today after Kali work me up late."

"I see," Heather cuffed her chin in response to the answer.

"Take it easy, you need to chill sometimes, or else you'll break down!"

"Yeah…" Dane went a little deeper into his thoughts, "I could've sworn I heard something that time….was it from that dream I had last night? Ugh. It's way too foggy to say."

He looked at Franc and Heather a little more observantly,

"Maybe I should tell Franc and Heather. I mean, they are my friends and all, and it's not like they wouldn't believe me…"

Dane gave a false gesture of confidence, "Nah! It's its better if they didn't know, they'd think I'm crazy," Dane consciously cheered himself on, "Yeah, I'll just keep it to myself."

Riiiiiiinnnnng. Riiiiinnnnnggg.

The bell echoed throughout the schoolyard as the remaining students outside began rushing through the school doors.

Franc sighed as Heather began walking towards the doors. She stopped before continuing on.

"Come on, Francis, you heard the bell, didn't you? I don't want a mark on my first day of high school."

"Didn't I tell you-?

Francis continued to follow Heather before stopping mid-sentence and turning around.

"See you at lunch!"

"Yeah, see you..." Dane's words faded as his two friends went off to class.

He looked up to see the words engraved on the brick building.

"Middletown High School."

Dane took a deep breath and walked towards the doors.

"Let's do this."

* * *

The first half of the day went without a hitch. He had four 45 minute periods to go through without incident. The teachers mostly talked about what they would be doing and gave out stuff to be signed. He was lucky enough to be seated next to some of his friends each period, even his sister, so he felt content. The period before lunch had him be with Heather so at least he got to see her one period. Finally, the class concluded and he and Heather left for the lunchroom.

"Francis said he would be in the East wing of the school," Heather announced, "We can take a shortcut through the side of the school building."

Dane looked befuddled, "How do you know all this when you've _never_ been here?"

"I practiced walking around the school during the summer."

"Huh" Dane blinked at her response, "You did what?"

"When you look at the map the school gives you, it seems kind of small, but in reality that's not the case. I walked over here on a morning jog for dance, and found that out to be true. In order to not confuse myself, I simply walked around finding shortcuts."

"And no one saw you doing this?" Dane remarked, he felt his face twisting into one of those extremely shocked expressions.

"Not that I know of, there was a security guard who asked what I was doing once, but he let me go after I explained my situation to him."

"_So someone did catch her!"_ Dane thought with upmost astonishment.

Heather continued to talk, "I continued to walk the school every day, multiple times to see what I could do. It's very interesting actually."

Dane deadpanned, _"Multiple?.. Every day?... Interesting?!" _

He sweat dropped, "_Franc was right…but I don't think it's me who he should be worried about…"_

"OUfg!"

Dane and Heather attention went to two students who covered a smaller person in a corner. Dane could clearly notice the person being bullied. It was a childhood bully that went to his middle school, Derek Walkman. He could see him crying as the two lanky guys closed in on him. Dane focused in on their conversation.

"So you think you're in high school now that you can mess with us?!"

The first lanky high schooler jabbed at him a bit.

"We'll teach you somethin'!" The other lanky high schooler jabbed at him again, this time in the stomach. The high schoolers began pounding the stuffing out of the bully like he was a teddy bear.

Dane felt a tug on his shoulder as he was being pulled along.

"Come on, Dane. Let's go." Heather continued to pull Dane away from the scene.

"I think we shoul-

"It's _none _of our business, Dane. Let's move." He looked down to see Heather's hand. It was shaking violently. He sighed and took one last look at the bully. He looked to be in pretty bad shape and was bleeding. He turned around and stated,

"_He's getting what he deserved all those years ago…I guess this is karmatic justice then." _Dane inquired as he painfully looked away.

"Fine, Let's go," Dane announced in a blasé voice.

Heather's hand stopped shaking as much. She turned around in the opposite direction.

"Thank you."

She began walking and Dane reluctantly followed suite.

…_Little did he know, this would be first of the three mistakes he made, leading to his "beginning"._

* * *

"Hahaha! You're killing me here, Kali! Ha!"

Marie sweat dropped as she saw Franc hugging Kali. He was practically crying from laughter and Kali was his only support from falling face first onto the dirty cafeteria floor.

"My goodness," Marie saddened at Kali, "You are gonna' be alright, are you Kali?"

"Sure she is!" Franc laughed hysterically. "She's so funny!" Franc proceeded to rapidly rub the girl's head with his knuckles. Kali only smiled as he did so.

"You know I'm talkin' bout her' right?"

Marie sighed as she looked away from the sight. She looked to her right to see Heather and Dane.

"Oh! Nice to see you two! I would ask you to sit on the othe' side, but…"

The three sweat dropped at the duo playing around.

"…those two are having their own littl' dilemma."

Heather and Dane sat down next to Marie. They attempted to make as much room between each other as possible.

After putting down his back pack, Dane went to the other side of the table to get to Kali.

"Come on, let's get some lunch."

"Okay!"

The duo went off to the lunch line to see what the school had.

* * *

In the parking lot of the school, a man dressed in dark clothing impatiently smoked his cigarette. All the students were near the lunch area, so he could pretty much smoke until the next period started. He sighed as he took the cigarette out of his mouth.

"Can't believe this..." he muttered going deeply into his thoughts.

_"Even since she left, this town's been pretty peaceful, but I can't help but think this is the calm before the storm."_

He put the cigarette back to his mouth,

"After all, those _things _are fucking dangerous. The last time I fought against them everything almost went to shit," he thought sourly. He breathed the cigarette in deeply and puffed some smoke out, " Ugh, I'm getting too old for this shit!" The man exclaimed irritated.

"She's back." A tiny figure approached no floated towards him. The man gave a look of total disgust before turning away from the figure.

" So, Whadayawant me to do about it?" the man spat as he continued to smoke in front of the figure.

"You need to make a new batch of eggs," the figure calmly stated as if not noticing the man's disgust.

The man froze, but only for a brief moment. He then threw his used cigarette into the nearby appropriate bin.

"Why? She can't use them anymore, her mind's broken," the man almost asked, but tried to stay content with his wording.

"She has him," the man lunged at the tiny figure and grabbed him by all sides. He face showed a gesture of total seriousness and rage.

"You better not be damn lying to me."

"I'm not," the figure replied as blase as ever, "I _saw_ him."

The man let go of the figure as he patted him on the head. The figure stared at him with amusement.

"Sorry, good job."

The tiny figure let out a small smirk.

"Your guilty side's showing again!"

"Shaddup!"

* * *

Okay, I'll get milk, some candy, and an apple. I think I have enough money for that… Kali what do you...?"

Dane gasped at what Kali was holding in her hand. Not only did she have everything that Dane had (minus strawberry milk) but she also had a huge roll in her hand. Dane could see that it was at least as big as her arm in length and as thick as her palm of her hand.

"Nope."

Kali frowned then whined, "Wynaut?"

"Because nobody gonna eat that huge-ass thing! W-W-Where did you get it anyway?!"

"It's the school special, duh!"

"Kali…"

"Excuse me, are you going to pay for that?"

Dane turned around and faced the lunch lady. She had gave a gesture of impatience.

"Sure," he sighed not wanting to hold the line any longer, "I guess so. How much is it?"

"17.35" her voice crackled.

Dane grimaced in terror and thought,

"_I'm 10 dollars over budget...? That stupid roll!"_

"Sir, you're holding up the line."

"Oh, sorry." Dane unconsciously replied, he could tell the lunch lady was becoming extremely impatient with him.

He took one look at Kali who was hungrily eying the roll.

"I know she wants this badly, but…I have to be the older brother in this, money's too tight to let her do this…" Dane thought with confidence. He thought he knew what to say "Kali…"

"You had to do it, didn't you?" Franc sympathetically patted Dane on the back.

"I wanted to say no!" Dane banged his head on the table, "I don't know what came over me. I guess I didn't want to be dealing with it so I let her do what she wanted. I'm a complete pushover…"

"It's okay. It's not like it hurts to be caring, and look, Kali's happy."

Dane and Franc sweat dropped at Kali ogling the roll. She tore the wrapping off it like a wild animal and ate into it furiously.

Franc ignored her eating and consoled Kali once more.

"S-See?" he said weakly.

Dane picked his head up. He heard his stomach growl a bit.

"It took all my money to pay for her lunch. Ugh."

Kali stopped in her eating frenzy and glanced at Dane. She gave him a warm smile and broke the roll in half.

"Here you go!"

Dane looked confusingly at Kali.

"This?"

"You paid for it."

Dane reluctantly took the role and ate it with contempt. His expression changed in a flash as he continued to eat the roll, this time, more heartily.

"This is really good, what type of roll is it anyway?"

"It's called a Super Egg Roll!"

"Egg roll?"

A quick flash of the dream he had caused Dane to choke up some of his food. Everyone at the table's attention went to Dane as he coughed. Franc slapped him on the back to help Dane get his bearings.

"What's the matter, Dane? Dane? " Kali asked nervously as he coughed up some egg pieces.

"What's the big deal?" Franc asked slightly nervous and irritated. Dane had stopped coughing at this point.

"Are you allergic?" Heather inquired who also seemed slightly panicky.

"No, just thought of something… eerie" Dane attempted to cover up his episode.

"Somethin' wha?" Marie asked even more confused than the people at the table.

"Yeah, you've been kinda spacey lately," Franc noted, "You sure you aren't just tired?"

Dane looked to around the cafeteria table. He could tell everyone was raring for an answer.

What he wanted to say was:

_Well, actually, I guess I'm not used to high school yet and I also had a weird dream last night. It was like…I couldn't see anything (mostly because I'm blind without my glasses) and I saw a patch of light that looked like an egg. It was so weird. Are there any horoscopes about stuff like that? I doubt it, but…I can't really explain it, but ever since then, I've felt so weird. Sorry I freaked you guys out._

What he _actually_ said was:

"No, I'm tired. I decided to stay up late before school started."

The people at the table remained quiet for seemed to last a lifetime. Dane was exclusively nervous at the response. Would they by his excuse?

Heather sighed and her lips began to move, "…just be careful next time."

Dane softly sighed in relief.

She continued, "You seem not to handle restlessness well. You should go to sleep earlier for now on."

"Y-Yeah!" Kali also replied almost interrupting Heather, but caught herself at the right moment, "Heath's right, make sure you get some sleep!"

"…" Marie remained silent.

"That's good!" Franc patted Dane's back again, "just don't give us a heart attack okay!"

The cheeriness of the table had come back again. The friends continued talking, but Dane would have removed himself from any conversation for the rest of lunch. He was very thankful for what Heather said. He wasn't sure whether she bought the story or not, but whatever the case, he owed her big time.

Dane continued to immerse himself in eating the leftovers of his lunch, that's when he realized something:

He technically lied to his friends. Scratch that, he lied to his friends! Sure, he didn't give an explanation and tried to shirk it off, but he still lied to them when asked about something that concerned him.

Taking one last bite, he crumbled the wrapper and threw it into the nearby garbage can.

"_I'm such liar…"_

Riiiingggg. Riiinnng.

The lunch bell had rang. Everybody in the cafeteria got up from the tables and prepared to go to class. Dane knew that he and Franc had the same class together so he took his time and waited for him.

Marie and Kali left the table before.

"Don't stay up too late!" It was the last words he would hear from Marie that day. Kali stayed silent.

Franc and Dane were about to leave until Heather stopped them. Dane didn't exactly hear what Heather said, but Franc told him, "I'll see you in class, I need to do something first."

Dane gave a brief look of curiosity, but nodded in response and continued out of the cafeteria and off to class.

_Little did he know, this would be his second mistake._

* * *

In the end, Franc came late to class and was chewed out by the teacher. Luckily she didn't mark him late (which with his record was a blessing). The class afterwards went fine also, with Franc seeing Heather and Kali. The last period, however, was a different story.

Dane's last period class was public speaking. From an early age, his mother saw he could talk articulately and fluently when he needed to and praised him for it. Dane figured it couldn't have hurt, and decided to try it out now that he had a choice in high school.

In this period, Dane knew he wouldn't see any of his friends, which was okay. After all, the period went smoothly at first. Dane's teacher, Miss C.B., seemed to be a nice lady. She asked around the class for names and some facts about some of the students; a good way to start. Dane simply said his name and that he liked computers and reading comic books. The rest of the class also gave miscellaneous information, but Dane could care less about them.

The period was in its halfway mark and things seemed to be going good. However, the teacher pulled a partner's assignment in which the students would have to talk to each other for the rest of the period.

"Okay, this will be your first assignment of the semester! I want everybody to feel comfortable with everybody in this classroom, so you will each get partners for the year!"

"Ahhh…" some students groaned. However, the teacher didn't seem to notice…or care.

"Okay, here are the teams! If you have a problem with that student, please talk to me _privately_," she empathized.

Dane didn't pay much attention to the words she said afterwards, he was just waiting for his name to be called.

Closing his eyes, he thought back to lunch and that image that flashed in front of him.

"_That dream was pretty damn weird. I mean- looking back, I've .had weird dreams, but it never bothered me enough to care…"_

Unknown to Dane, a boy quietly crept to the front of the class. He had bright auburn, almost dark orange hair, with a clip holding excess hair away from his dark brown eyes. He wore a gray polo shirt neatly tucked into black dress pants, which covered his dark blue shoes. The expression on his face showed concern and worry.

He whispered in Miss C.B.'s ear. She nodded her head and proceeded look around the classroom.

"I did this wrong again?" she groaned in frustration, "Let's see…"

She turned to Dane's direction and focused her gaze on him.

"How about Dane, he's nice."

The boy tucked his head in a little. He took a moment to see what he was up against. Finally, he nodded…

"…_..so why does this bother me so much…?"_

"_That voice_

"_**Hey."**_

…_why is it so familiar?"_

"Dane?"

Dane quickly opened his eyes. He sprang up at the calling of his name. Other students turned to see what was wrong, but quickly went back to their conversations.

"Can you partner up with Johnny, please?"

Dane regrouped by adjusting his glasses and straightening his shirt.

"Sure."

Dane went over to an empty spot with desks and sat down. He saw Johnny walk cautiously over to the desks and sit down as if he were in a hurry.

Dane saw that Johnny seemed unusually nervous. His head hung low, his arms were tucked in, and he seemed to stare at the floor. From what he knew, Dane could tell that talking with Johnny would not be an easy task.

"_Dammit! What's with this awkward silence?! I hate these types of conversations!" _

Dane tilted his head to get a better look at Johnny, his entire face was red.

"_What do I do?"_

"H-Hey." Dane managed to push out."

Johnny presumably heard him as he shot up like a twig.

"He's so scared after I said 'hey'?" Dane felt like panicking.

"_If that's all it takes to scare him, what the hell do I talk about?!"_

Dane exhaled as he examined Johnny's figure. He could tell that Johnny was an actually nice looking guy. It was a little hard to decipher with his nervousness, but he looked kind of pretty.

Dane noticed a shiny black, pin holding Johnny's hair back on the right side of his head.

"I-I like your hairstyle." Dane muttered. He figured if he was able to hear him whispering, muttering would be no problem.

"…" Johnny gave a look of confusion. He moved himself closer and adjusted himself on the chair.

"…You think so?" Johnny rushed out so quickly that Dane barely caught what he said.

Dane felt a little more confident at this point and moved his chair up as well.

"Yeah, I think it suites you well." Dane spoke casually.

Johnny face seemed to perk up a bit, but as what Dane could see, it only for a slight moment.

"Thanks." Johnny replied, this time speaking clearer and a little more confident.

"_At least this is going well, maybe we could…"_

_Tap._

Dane looked at the table and slowly moved his gaze to Johnny. He was in for the shock of his life.

"_He's crying?"_

Dane began to panic. Did he happen to be paired up with some who had "mental issues" or was he being that cruel?

"_What the hell?! Why? He looked so happy a moment ago! What happened?!"_

Dane hurriedly looked around for anything as tissues. He had to somehow silence this guy and fast.

Nonetheless, the class began paying attention to them. Johnny was already making sniffling noises and Dane had no way to stop him.

"Please, um, I'm sorry! Did I do something wrong? Are you okay?" Dane shot question after question. He wasn't sure what to do next and soon the comments came flying.

"What's with that group?"

"Hey, you guys alright over there?"

"Did he make him cry?"

"What a dick."

"NO!" Dane yelled in a raspy voice, "I don't know what happened, I swear!"

Dane turned to Johnny, whose face was still red and crying. He could also feel himself turning red with embarrassment.

"_This is so embarrassing! Now everybody's going to think I'm a jerk!"_

"C-Calm down!" Dane said as calmly as he could. "I'll find some tissues for you okay?"

Johnny only responded with a sniffle as the tears he cried came out even more.

"He probably did make him cry…" a student scoffed cynically.

"I didn't! Dane spat.

"_WHHHY?!"_

* * *

_By the time Dane had gotten to out of school, he was done. His first day had already showed him what he was in for and he didn't like it. In fact, he hated it. Kali saw Dane's worn down state and asked if he wanted something to eat or drink. Not feeling for a burnt pre dinner meal, he declined. Going into the house, he saw that his mother wasn't home yet._

_He sighed, "_Great, she's not home yet, "Dane sarcastically cheered. He knew that if she wasn't there by the time they got home, she would be coming in very late. AGAIN.

Dane sloppily plopped the needy papers on the living room table and sluggardly trekked upstairs. Reaching his room, he threw his bag in a random direction and fell face first on his bed.

Dane stayed there for a while before turning around to take a heavy breath.

"Same old. Same old." Dane sighed as he sloppily kicked off his shoes and threw them on the ground.

"…And to think that things would be a _little_ different…"

He closed his eyes exhausted. He needed a little more time to think about what he'd done.

* * *

The working town of Middleton was methodically becoming sleepy. The sun was setting as all the residents of the town made their way home. At the front of the school, a young woman stood at the entrance. Anyone could tell that the school was empty and that the door had been locked. Though, the woman's motives were not to get in.

An unusually big smirk grew on the woman's face as a ruby mist surrounded the woman. The mist swirled faster and faster until it surrounded the entire school.

"I see….hahahahe" the woman cackled like a maniac.

"So he's been keeping this place in shape while I was gone? Pfft! Yeah right!"

The woman walked closer to the entrance of the door. The red mist swirled around the door handle.

"What a crappy job! Hahaha! Does he really think that-?

In a swift moment, a white light blasted the woman several feet back. She cringed in immediate pain, but began to laugh again.

"Hahahaha!...he's smarter than I thought," the woman spoke crazily, "be it. If I can't get to you one way…" A glob of red mist formed to show a bright glowing ruby egg with a question mark on it.

"I'll find others! Until….." the woman limped away from the school as the mist let up, "I get you."

* * *

Dane eyes slowly fluttered open.

He looked around to see that his room was pitch black.

"…" Dane touched his face to realize his glasses were still on.

Groaning, he took them off. He could feel the sleep lines. Moving off his bed, he slowly made his way to the door and opened it. He hissed like Dracula, after being exposed to the bright hallway light. He rubbed his eyes as he made his way to Kali's room. A purple door with sports themes and various artists met Dane's line of view.

Knock. Knock.

"Kali, mom call yet?"

He heard several footsteps before Kali opened the door.

"Yeah, she did. She took overtime so were home alone until 11:00."

"Great," Dane muttered sarcastically, "Did you eat anything yet?"

"No, that egg roll filled me right up! And besides, I got an art project that due at the end of October which I want to start right away!"

"_Figured."_

"Alright, make sure you at least have something before you go to bed."

"I know~" Kali cheered as she closed the door.

Dane sighed as he went back to his room. He figured he'd change his clothes before deciding what to do next. Going back into his dark room, he looked for the light switch.

"Damn, I should've done this before," he muttered as he grabbed at the wall trying to find the switch.

"Where is that-whoa?"

Dane nearly fell as he stretched out to attempt to reach the switch. His body hit the wall as he heard a slump of things fall from a shelf.

"Shit," Dane cursed under his breath.

Luckily, he finally felt his hand touch the light switch. He pushed it and the room soon became filled with light. Dane sighed in defeat. He glared at the pile of stuff that had fallen from his closet.

"Hooray!" Dane sarcastically cheered, now I have to sort through all this stuff. Dane began pushing through the pile to organize everything. He noticed some familiar stuff such as old clothes, comic books, and some knickknacks he used to collect as a kid.

"How did all this stuff get up there?" Dane pondered as he rummaged through the things. He paused after something noticeable caught his eyes.

"Oh! I remember this!" He picked out an old blue Power Rangers action figure, "I remember you! You were my favorite ranger! I used to play with this all the time!…Yeah." Dane's smile dwindled as he tossed the figure aside. He continued to sort through the things until he found an old crumpled piece of paper.

"Weird, I don't remember drawing this…" Dane curiously examined the piece of paper. It showed him a drawing of him, Kali, and an unusual space between.

"I don't think my perspective was that bad…" Dane thought to the time before he wore his glasses. He didn't receive them until a little later in life, but he clearly remembered having good vision, even back then.

"Why is there such a big space between Kali and me?" Dane looked closer at the picture. He wasn't sure what to think.

"Ah, maybe I just didn't notice back then…"

He tossed the picture carefully aside and continued sorting out his things. He made three piles: one with toys, one with knickknacks, and one with loose sheets of reusable paper. As he went through the last sheets of paper he felt something off.

"Huh..?"

Dane felt the pile a bit before noticing that it under the papers were what seemed to be a book. He lifted it from under the page and stared at it. His eyes widened.

"Hero's…Guidebook?"

Dane chuckled wryly.

"It's definitely been a while since I've seen this."

He attempted to throw it on the pile. After all, it didn't mean much to him now, but something kept him from going on his merry way. He didn't recall looking back what it was, but…

Something made him open the book.

Something made him flip the pages and look through it.

Something made him land on _that _page.

It read, "Number 1 Rules 4 Heroes!"

Dane felt an overwhelming wave of nostalgia overtake him.

"This…" He continued to read the page,

"Number 1: Always Do What You Think Is Right!"

He thought back to the time when he saw Derek being bullied. He remembered he stood by instead of doing what he felt was right. Sure, he felt Heather concerns, and he tried to prove it by thinking he wouldn't be able to do anything at all, but it still didn't settle with him. He was only being a coward.

"Number 2: Be As Honest As Needed!"

Dane cringed at the thought of this "rule". He remembered today how he pushed the truth away from his friends and lied to them when they were willingly to listen to him. He crushed himself afterwards, but didn't doing anything to prove it afterwards. He was just a liar.

"Number 3: Don't Give Up Until The Very End!"

The list went on, but to Dane, it didn't matter. He closed the book without hesitation. He couldn't look any longer.

"I made them these when I was…like eight? They don't matter anyway."

Dane threw the book on the pile and moved them into his closet floor. He then went to his drawer and changed out of his clothes. He picked out a white tee-shirt, and blue boxers. After changing, he checked his clock.

"8:30." He sighed deeply. He didn't have any homework (thankfully) on the first day and his mother wouldn't be coming home until another three hours later. He could pretty much do what he pleased. Though, that wasn't the case. He felt excessively tired and didn't feel like doing anything but sleeping.

Giving in to his own demands, he turned off the lights and dove into his bed. Before losing consciousness, the thought of the "rules" crept back into his mind. Dane closed his eyes and muttered to himself very softly,

"The rules in that book are stupid anyway, besides it not like a person like me could ever become a hero,"

And with that, Dane fell asleep making his third and last mistake.

* * *

I know! I know! The first chapter was kind of slow, but I had to do it! A LOT of foreshadowing actually happened here. You might not or have seen it, but I set up A LOT of things

My Devianart

Next chapter should be around by September 30 or earlier(depends on school work)

Thank you for reading


	2. Chapter 2: A Mysterious VIbe

Hello again!

...

I know what you're all thinking, "but InfinityYellow213! You said the next chapter would be by September! What's going on?"

Well first, I have some more free time(than I ever thought I would have) so I get to focus on this story, Hazzah!

Also, I might as well get it out of the way before school starts.

By the way, don't get used to this, this will probably happen a couple of times, but _please_ don't get used to it. I just like getting things I need to do out of the way first(including the next chapter of the fanfic). Does it mean I don't have fun writing this? No! Of course not! I was itching to make this chapter!

Now enough about me, here's the update on today's fanfic:

Swearing(mild) and a tiny bit of mature themes...you have been warned.

Enjoy!

* * *

Dane woke up the next morning feeling more terrible than ever. Even though he got plenty of sleep, he still felt groggy and tired, though, that could've been from yesterday. After all the drama he encountered, he was more than ready to kiss his high school years good bye. The sun peered out his window and hit him directly on his eyes. Blinded, he tried to move the covers of his bed sheets to block the sun with no avail. Frustrated, he sat up and rubbed his eyes.

He yawned haughtily, "One down, 188 more days to go."

Dane moved his body over to the right side of the bed. Once he got out, he partially opened his window to check the temperature.

"It's pretty cool today. I should probably wear a jacket…"

Dane sluggardly moved to his closet and picked out some clothes to wear. He changed into a black and green long sleeve shirt, blue sweatpants, and combat boots. He picked up his jacket from the hook hanging behind his door and put it on. After fixing his hair and adjusting his glasses, he made his way to the bedroom door.

Downstairs, he saw that Kali was eating from a semi decent meal with her signature bitter vanilla-flavored coffee. Dane went to the table and sat down across from her.

_"Morning Sunshine~"_ Kali remarked with minor sarcasm, _"Glad to see you're doing better today."_

Dane scowled at her and reached for something to eat. He saw a choice of bread, cooked eggs, and some bacon. Kali wolfed down the bacon and eggs, but left the toast unscathed.

_"Might as well eat this, after all, If Kali's not touching it, nobody's gonna eat it."_

He reached for the bread and decided to make some toast to be on the safe side.

"Mom went food shopping?" he asked very calmly as he put the bread in the toaster.

"Yeah, she just left for work a while ago. She made something for us though! It's been awhile!"

A quick reminder popped into Dane's mind. He had suddenly remembered the papers that needed to be signed.

"Crap, did she sign the papers I left for her?" He slurred before turning his attention to the dining room.

"What...papers?" Kali barely heard as she tilted her head in confusion.

Dane, with all the strength he had, moved over towards the table where he sloppily left the papers. They still remained untouched as he remembered them.

"Ugh, I knew it!" Dane spat as he groaned.

"Oh!" Kali announced in a moment of enlightenment, "You mean those forms? Don't worry," Kali tried his best to reassure him, "They aren't due till' the end of the week, you got plenty of time til' then."

"I know that," Dane spat, "but if I don't show anything important to her early, she'll never look at it!"

Kali nibbled at her eggs and put her knife and fork down.

"That's not true!" she replied optimistic in her answer, "Sure, she's a little irresponsible, but she has to work all the time, you know? Give her a little break," she waved.

Dane sighed deeply in irritation, "Kali, I don't think you understand what I mean here, I get she's irresponsible some times, but she could at least try to show that she slightly cares." Dane pointed to the table where he threw the papers aside. Kali looked in the direction where he pointed.

"Look, Mom eats dinner every day at the exact spot where I put those papers. For all I know, she could care less."

Kali turned back around and Dane lowered his hand. "I think your bein' a little critical here," Kali sweat dropped.

Dane sighed in defeat, _"I'm not going to get my point across to Kali this way. It's hopeless."_

**"…"**

Dane felt something faintly tingle inside of him for a brief moment, but he decided to shrug it off and respond to Kali, "Forget it, there's no way you would understand anyway."

Kali remained silent. A look of sadness intertwined with worry and confusion showed on her face. Quickly, she took a piece of bacon in her hand, brought it to her mouth,and began to eat it.

A brief moment of silence filled the kitchen. Dane felt the pressure turn on him.

_"Oh my god! I'm such an idiot!"_ Dane mentally proclaimed with remorse, _"Now I hurt her like that…ugh…how do I even apologize to her after…?!-_

"You know," Kali spoke aloud interrupting Dane's monologue. He nearly flinched from how shocked he was to hear Kali's voice. It didn't sound angry or sad, but neutral.

"Y-Yeah?" Dane answered back trying to be as calm as possible.

"The school bus comes in 15 minutes."

Dane blinked. The only think he could think of was,

_"Here we go again."_

* * *

Dane marched into his room in a frenzy. He woke up earlier than yesterday, but he was still running late.

"You got to be kidding me?! Damn it!"

Dane sloppily packed up his supplies for school. He double checked everything until he realized he was missing something,

His uncle's Purple Heart.

He frantically tore through the contents of his desk and backpack. It wasn't there. He even scoured the floor to see if he had dropped it, but he didn't find it.

"That's odd. I _KNOW_ I brought it home with me.. where did it go?"

Without the medal, Dane couldn't function. Soon all memories of having to go to school were at the back of his mind. The only thing he could think about was trying to find his uncle's Purple Heart.

"Wait," Dane thought as he looked at his bed, "I had it with me when I went to bed last night!"

He quickly jumped onto his bed and dug through the pale white sheets. Low and Behold, his Purple Heart was underneath one of the pillows.

"Thank God, I thought I lost this." He sighed with relief and put it in his jacket pocket and zipped it up. He patted the pocket to make sure it was firm and sighed in relief,

"I need to do a better job of taking care of you, " He wryly chuckled at his own obsession with the medal.

_Wiggle._

"Huh?"

Dane blinked a moment to understand what just happened. He felt something underneath himself move. Looking down, he saw a weird lump under his bed sheets.

"That's odd, I don't remember putting anything else in the bed…"

Pushing away the sheets, he carefully lifted up sloppy layer after layer. He wasn't sure what he would find, but whatever it was he had to be careful.

At the last layer of the bed sheet, he saw something odd. Even though it sunk into the bed, he could decipher it as an oval like shape.

_"!"_

Hesitating, he slowly reached towards the last bed sheet covering it. He could feel the rivulets of sweat going down his face. He wasn't sure what he was in for, but his body told him that whatever it is...

He wasn't ready for it.

Grabbing a hold of the sheet, he slowly backed away and off the bed. He held the sheet above his head so he could cover himself in case anything were to happen.

"Arggh! Forget this!"

Without hesitation, he lifted the covers of the bed sheets in one, fellow, _swoosh._

Dane closed his eyes after moving the bed sheet and waited…

and waited…

_and waited…_

**_and waited…_**

Nothing.

Dane opened his eyes and slowly sifted his body towards the bed. He felt himself wanting to crawl in a hole and hide. Taking baby steps, he carefully made his way towards the bed. Looking down, Dane made a facial expression worthy of Nicholas Cage, as he was successfully able to make a combo of shock, horror, disgust, and a little bit of confusion.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Dane screeched as he examined the object below. He begged to God that Kali wouldn't hear him.

It was a shiny egg that looked to be bigger than the classic chicken egg. From what Dane saw, it was mostly coral red and had a light blue and yellow design that went around it. In the middle and front of the egg, it showed a lined-yellow star inside some sort of curvy hexagonal shape.

Dane could feel the life draining out of him,

"W-WHAT THE HELL!" He shrieked as he flew back from the egg and attempted to calm down.

"Okay, don't freak Dane; this has to be a prank! Yeah! Kali's getting revenge on me…but wait…that doesn't work because she hasn't been in my room all day today!" Dane tried reasoning with himself as paced around the room.

_"Wait!"_ Dane mentally came to a conclusion, "_I know!"_

"It's a rare type of egg that came from the window this morning! Maybe an exotic bird came in and- augggh who am I kidding?!"

Dane sulked before looking back at the egg. He walked towards it in defeat and carefully picked it up in two hands.

"Maybe I'm high right now and this is all just a realistic hallucination…"

He slowly and as gently as possible, rubbed it. Dane's face quickly shifted from horror and shock, to grief.

"Yep, high as fuck! No doubts about it! Must have been the bread…"

Dane pressed the egg to his face, "It's pretty warm though…" Dane marveled at the egg's texture, "That means that something's probably gonna come out of it..."

"DANE!" Kali furiously slammed the door as he jumped in horror. He almost dropped the egg, but thankfully caught it in time.

"What are you doing?! The bus is already here! LET'S GO!" Kali screamed in an impatient and angry manner. Dane didn't have to turn around to tell that she was _pissed_.

Dane swiftly shoved the egg into his inner jacket pocket, and turned around.

"Sorry, just got caught up in something."

Kali calmed a bit before leaving the room and slamming the door behind without a word. He could hear her anger trail with her as she stomped away. Dane could tell she was still pretty upset, but at least things seemed to have calmed down a bit.

...or at least in his mind they did.

"Crap," Dane muttered as he revealed the pocket that was thankfully big enough to hold the egg in time. He took a good look at it.

"What the hell am I going to do with this?"

Dane got a little panicky before coming up with an idea. Taking his book bag on one side, he cautiously took the egg out of his pocket and laid it on his desk, making sure it wouldn't fall. He then ran to the bathroom, took a baby blue towel, ran back to his room, and covered the egg. He then carefully put it in his backpack's front pocket.

"There we go!"

"DANE!" Kali screeched, interrupting his short lived success. Even though her voice was from downstairs, it was still high pitched enough to scare Dane.

"I'm comin'! I'm comin'!"

* * *

The bus ride to school felt very awkward for Dane. He sat across from his sister (the first problem), and despite what he thought earlier, he could feel the tensions ever so rising. Dane, every so often, glanced at his book bag to see what was happening with the egg. It didn't move like he felt last time, but he was more than grateful for that. The results of bringing the egg with him were also very conflicting.

"I've already debunked the theory of me being high, but even so…Damn, what am I thinking? I don't know what this thing going to hatch into!" Dane thought fretfully as beads of sweat ran down his face, "….What if it hatches as a parasite like those horror movies? Or what if it's an alien that came on earth to kill people? Or even worse, it's not an egg at all! It's a bomb!"

Dane wiped the incoming sweat from his forehead and continued to keep his blasé exterior in tact, "Calm down, Dane. It hasn't done anything bad…yet… If I can just get to the library during break, maybe I can figure this out."

Dane swiftly turned his head to Kali's direction,

"Speaking of which..." Kali caught sight of his glance for a moment, she blushed and turned away nervously, "I need to figure out a way how to apologize to Kali…"

Crack.

_"What?"_ Dane pondered looking around his seat, _"Did something just break?"_

Being very concerned about the egg, he looked its direction. The bag appeared to remain normal, but he was still a little hesitant to believe everything was okay. He cautiously zipped it opened. It was still too dark outside and he couldn't get good light to see the egg.

_"I can't see anything,"_ He thought frustrated as he adjusted his glasses. He completely turned into his seat so he was facing sideways. That way, he could hide the egg from plain sight (specifically Kali's).

_"If I can just bring it out a little more into the open…,"_ Dane concentrated as he attempted to move the egg in the towel to the light.

**_CLUNK!_**

Several people (specifically Dane) screamed and screeched after the bus hit a pot hole. For a moment, the bus went off the right side of the road and went into the other lane. Luckily(and thankfully), without any cars driving on that side of the road, the bus driver was able to slow down and move back into the right lane. He pulled over onto the side.

He looked back for a moment and yelled, "Everybody all right?!"

"Yeah!" One student answered.

"We're good," another replied in continuation.

Several others replied as well, but they mostly complained about the bus driver's driving.

Dane, on the other hand, was hanging on to dear mercy. He barely caught the egg after they went through that pothole and his senses were acute. His hands were watery from beads of sweat running down his palms, and he felt like his heart pounding against his rib cage.

"Y-You alright Dane?" Kali replied still shaken up, probably even worse than Dane.

"Y-Yeah." Dane replied zipping back his back pack.

* * *

The second day of school revealed itself to be worrisome for Dane. He felt himself constantly checking the egg whenever he had the chance. In between classes, during lectures, after assessments, it seemed to be whatever free time he had that was being absorbed by it. For a moment, it made him wonder if there was more to this egg after all, but he soon dropped that theory, or in better terms, he pushed it to the back of his mind. He was too concentrated to think about it. All he could put his mind to was the egg. He felt himself looking at it every time he blinked, curious to see what would happen. Though, while doing this, Dane rarely got a chance to speak with Kali. Whenever, he had the mere second to, it been spent being engrossed by the egg and his reluctant feelings. He still needed to apologize to her, but he wasn't sure how to do it. Those feelings of guilt wouldn't leave him.

By the time break came, Dane was exhausted. All his energy seemed to be sucked away. He unconsciously made his way towards the cafeteria, before stopping in his tracks.

"Wait, what am I doing?!" Dane thought in realization and proceeded to turn in the opposite direction.

Sure, his body told him he was tired, stressed,and hungry, but he couldn't go to lunch yet. His mind wouldn't let himself give in. His friends would surely be suspicious of him staring at his backpack and would ask him what's wrong. Sure, he could lie about it like his fiasco yesterday, but he felt the need to constantly be aware that the egg was okay and to make sure nothing was distracting him. In other words, he couldn't let them get in the way.

"I have to go to the library first. If I don't know what's with this egg, then…"

Dane continued to walk to the library, but a familiar pair of warm hands caught him from walking away.

"Running away now huh, some friend you are!"

_"If only you knew Franc,"_ Dane thought ironically.

"Where you going? Heather told me you left without speaking a word to her,what's up?"

What Dane **_really_ **wanted to say was:

_"Oh, you have no idea! Okay, you're gonna' think I'm crazy, but I found this weird egg under my pillow this morning. I know! You think I'm crazy now, but it actually happened! Look! See?! What Now?! Don't tell anyone else this, but I'm going to the library to see what I can find on it. Maybe I can find some information on it!_

_...Also, I hurt Kali's feelings today! So I'm avoiding her because I don't know how to apologize without it coming off as awkward, cheesy, or an insensitive jackass of a brother! Don't tell her either!"_

What he _actually_ ended up saying was:

"I found something really interesting today and I want to see if I can find information on it as _quickly_ as possible," he empathized in hope that Franc would get the message.

"Really? Man you're a nerd!" Franc said as he rubbed Dane's head.

"Well, What is it?"

Dane blinked in misperception, "What is what?"

"What you found."

_"Crap!"_

Dane felt the sweat beginning to form down his back. He began losing it.

Franc blinked in response.

_"Dane?"_

"I-" Dane began. Franc looked even more confused," I-It's an egg!...I found it on my window today and I'm not sure what it belongs to, so…"

Franc gave an almost innocent gesture. A big smirk grew on his face.

"Oh really?" Franc joked sarcastically as he circled around Dane like a shark near its prey.

"Y-yeah! I think it's exotic or something I don't know. I just don't want Kali to try to eat it…." Dane continued as calmly and articulately as he could. He could see the red growing on Franc's face.

"Hahahahaha! I get it! I get it!" He kept chuckling in between his pauses.

"Heh, " Franc calmed a bit to speak his next choice of words.

"If you just wanted to keep something to yourself, say so, you don't have to lie about it!" He stated rubbing Dane's head.

Dane felt collapsing to his knees. It was times like these he was happy to have met Franc.

_"He might not believe me, but at least he understands… I think…_" Dane believed. He felt like smilingly, but kept his calm and cold exterior.

_"Maybe another time," _Dane thought in response to Franc's gestures.

"Thanks."

**_Crack._**

For a moment, Dane thought he heard a familiar sound again, but Franc didn't seem to be reacting, so he shirked it off. _Again._

"Just make sure you take it easy, alright? We don't want you spasm-ing out like last time!" Franc announced playfully as he continued to head off to the cafeteria, "See you later."

"Yeah, see you." Dane simply replied.

Dane sighed and persisted to head over to the library.

_"Damn it, I lied again!"_ Dane felt like punching himself in the face multiple times, _"He might of understood me, but it still doesn't change anything!...argh…. forget it…"_ Dane glanced at his backpack and looked back in the direction he was moving in.

_"For all know, the egg could end up hurting people. Until I know exactly what it is…I have a feeling no one should know about it…"_

* * *

Franc and Marie felt awkward sitting next to the grumpy Kali. They could tell she was in a poor mood, but they hesitated to start any conversation with her to see what was wrong. They both could agree that maybe it wasn't the right decision, but they felt it was best that she got some alone time. Heather, on the other hand, couldn't disagree more. She noticed that after Dane's dilemma yesterday, things had been quite different. The usual, peppy Kali, was very grumpy and nobody was willing to say anything about it. And to makes matters worse, it appeared that Dane was avoiding everyone. To her, that struck as odd and she felt the need to intervene. For all she knew, things couldn't start off like this.

Heather slammed her glass container of iced tea onto the table, catching everyone's attention. The people around her slowly went back to their conversations, but her friend's eyes were still fixated on her.

"_Kali~_," she started off very nicely,almost _too_ nicely, "If you're mad about something, tell us about it. We're your friends. We are here to **_HELP_** _you_."

Kali's exterior soon dropped at Heather's stern reply, she could see the waves of anger flaring off her.

"O-okay," Kali figured it wouldn't be best to try anything with Heather, considering her temper could get really bad.

Kali cleared her throat, "Dane's just being cynical and stubborn as usual."

Marie replied with compassion, "He's not hurtin' your feelings is he?"

"No, it's not like that…" Kali stated trying to find the proper words to explain her situation, "It's like…since mom got divorced…he's been shutting himself away from others. It worries me sometimes…"

"I can relate," France added, "He still seems nice and all, but I still get this feeling. It's like a creppy aura of coldness or somethin'."

"I completely agree!" Heather announced with somewhat irritation and anger, "he's been behaving like this for far too long now…something's got to change."

"Yeah!" Kali exclaimed in agreement with Heather.

"Hold it," Marie intervened. All eyes were on her.

"We can't force him to change or anything like that, that's just wron'!" She replied sincerely, "I think this is somethin' Dane has to figure out for himself."

"But he can't keep acting like this. Something has to happen-

"...And it _will_ happen!" Marie interrupted Heather, bewildering her.

"I-I know you don't believe in superficial stuff, but…I have a feelin' something's happening with Dane right now. Maybe it's for better, or worse. All I know is,…I think we should wait until he comes to us."

Franc looked at Marie contently, " And you're sure about this?"

Marie nodded, "Yessum,I think it's best we wait, right , Heather," she turned her head, "Kali?"

Kali stayed silent to take it all in. Heather sighed and replied almost instantly, "I don't believe in the paranormal or anything superficial…" she started looking into her friends eyes. Her expressions seemed to scar her, "...but fine, if you think it's best we leave him alone, we'll do it."

Marie felt relief overcame her. Franc felt the same.

"So...just wait then?" Kali added on to Heather's statement, "You think that will help?" Kali replied not angry, but sincerely.

"Don't ask me! _You're_ his sister," Heather replied, "You keep an eye on him, and if anything happens, don't be afraid to call us, "she smirked.

Kali's mouth grew into a big grin, "Right!"

* * *

"Yeah, right!" Dane exclaimed in frustration, "Nothing!"

Dane looked to his left where he had gently tucked the egg beside the computer at the school.

"I can't believe it's been half a-fucking hour and I still can't find anything on this stupid egg!"

Dane judiciously took the egg in his hands. He began to rotate it around.

"Is there something I'm missing?" Dane brooded as he further examined the egg, "something has to-

And then Dane noticed something that nearly gave him a heart attack:

Cracks.

It wasn't just one crack. No. Several cracks had slowly made their way around the egg and near the front. The cracks were also oddly specific. They followed the same jagged-triangular shaped cut along the egg.

Dane felt like screaming, but held himself in. After all, he was in a library with other people around him.

"Cracks." He examined the egg in utter astonishment, "That's impossible…"

He continued to feel the cracks on the egg, "I watched this thing all morning! When did cracks appear on it?!"

Dane thought back to his earlier classes, "I don't remember hitting my backpack on anything…"he muttered.

"Is the egg," Dane began thinking as he attempted to pull the egg open to peak through the cracks, "about to hatch soon?"

"Um, excuse me…" Dane heard a small voice talk to him.

Dane gasped and instinctively turned around, hiding the egg in his pants pocket.

"Y-

He then realized the familiar face before him.

It was the same person who started crying in the middle class yesterday, the same one who sullied his chances of having a decent reputation; it was Johnny.

_"No, no, no no no no no no! Of all the places-Why is he here?!"_

Dane wiped the incoming sweat coming(again) from his hands and calmly faced Johnny.

"Yeah?"

To his surprise, Johnny seemed more relaxed than what he saw yesterday. It was almost as if he was completely at ease.

"Well…can we talk about something?…" he said attempting to act very calmly. Dane could still feel the indecisiveness in Johnny's voice.

"He...wants to talk?" Dane questioned himself before the memories of yesterday's events flashed before him.

_"Oh God no!"_ Dane quickly disregarded the idea of talking with this guy. He looked to his right then left, _"Maybe if I make him think I'm crazy I can escape now I can-"_

"A-Are you okay?"

Dane's conscious brought him to reality. And to him, it was a horrible one.

"Y-Yeah, just thinking what you said, sure." Dane simply answered, swiftly his backpack to the side and moved a nearby chair closer so Johnny could sit next to him.

He felt like a bunch of bricks had hit him in the head.

_"Why am I doing this?"_ Dane thought in defeat. He looked over in Johnny's direction. He was sitting in the chair with his hands tucked in and his head hanging low like yesterday.

"Is that pose a usual thing for him?" Dane thought curiously looking at Johnny's position. After the remark, Silence passed them for what seemed to be a lifetime.

_"I'm so sick of this!"_ Dane felt like throwing a hissy-fit, but he remained calm to make his point.

"Hey," he spoke softly, but coldly. Johnny immediately perked up.

"If you got something to say to me, say it, it's not like I'll kill you or anything like that."

Johnny gave a saddened expression, "Sorry…it's just…"

"Hm?" Dane unconsciously said in response. He wasn't sure what was happening or what Johnny was going to say next.

"...Thank you," Johnny replied so quickly that Dane barely caught it.

"Thank you…?" Dane muttered in response.

_"He's thanking me?... 'thank you' for what?!"_

"Yeah…" Johnny discontinued his answer, but seemingly changed his mind. He sloppily added on to his answer, "y-you gave me compliment and I know I said thank you, but…"

Dane felt utterly shocked. He didn't know what to say or think at the moment. All he could do was take in Johnny's words.

"Please understand," he went on, "I haven't….really been given a compliment in years so…it made me really happy…"

_"That's why he was crying!"_ Dane felt overly delighted, _"It wasn't because I was being a jackass, thank god!"_ Dane felt utter relief.

_"But now that I think about it…"_

"Years?" Dane unconsciously asked. Johnny nodded in response.

"I moved from away from a different place before going to high school here."

_"?!"_

"A-At my middle school, the students and teachers were pretty nasty…Everybody seemed out to get everybody. I was afraid high school was going to be the same way, but I shortly moved afterwards…."

"You moved?"

Johnny, once again, nodded in reply, "Yeah, once we moved, I was even more scared,...I wasn't sure what the kids would think of me...so I'm thankful that it wasn't the same like my old school. You and some other people are pretty nice, so I wanted to thank you a little more properly."

Dane could hardly function at this point. All his attention was focused on Johnny's words. Was he really hearing all this?

"I'm sorry if you get any backlash from me for crying, it's just that it's been so long that I-

"It's nothing to get worked up about."

"Huh?" Johnny asked very confused.

"I'm kind of shocked you're actually telling me all this,but...it's not that big of a deal. I mean-there are plenty of nice people at this school who'll give you plenty of compliments. I'm not that special that you personally need to thank me."

"Y-You may think that, but…" Johnny held in what he was going to say. Dane could see that the words were near the tip of his tongue. All Johnny needed was a little push.

"You can say it. Remember what I said?"

"…." Johnny remained silent, but after a bit he continued,

"….you were the first boy to give me a compliment…"

Dane could nearly contain himself; he let out a small squeal after what he heard.

"F-First…boy? No no no no no no! Does he think I?..." Dane's mind was in a mess. How was he supposed to respond to something like that?

Dane tried his best to remain cool and wiped the sweat rolling off his forehead. He couldn't leave the conversation on a note like this…it was too…awkward.

"Um…Listen…kid," Dane began trying to be as polite as possible(was he even older than him?), "I don't…you know...**_go that_**-"

Johnny gave a series of progressive facial expressions to Dane.

First a look of…despondency,

then revelation,

and finally,shock.

Did he get the message?

"Oh no! I screwed up!" He waved his hands in a negative symbolizing way, "I-I don't **_go_** that way either! It's just that I haven't met many guys my age who compliment me that way…"

Dane was on the marginal of breath, _"His age?"_

Johnny appeared to realize what he said and began freaking out.

"No, no no no!" Johnny tried comforting Dane, " I-I don't mean.. it's jus- I'm sorry…" Johnny started withdrawing again. Dane could see familiar tears beginning to form down his eyes.

_"Ah Dammit! Not again!"_

* * *

After a few minutes, Johnny calmed down. They both agreed to drop the conversation and start over. By this point, Dane felt like he was run over by a bus. He didn't have the energy to do anything after that, but nonetheless, he decided to keep talking to Johnny. Something about the guy just irked him a bit.

_"I'm so done…"_ Dane thought fanning himself with his hand. He stopped, after Johnny spoke up.

"I'm kind of pathetic that way," he simply said as he hung his head low.

"What way?"

"That I'm so shy that I end up crying...even for the stupidest of situations," he answered.

"Yeah, a little bit…." Dane answered back truthfully. He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to say to him, but he didn't know what else to think of.

A strong, but silent moment passed between the two. What could Dane say? He was a liar, a pushover, and was very unforgiving to others. He felt as if he didn't have a right to tell others life advice, let alone give it to them.

Dane sighed, and took in a deep breath, could he do this? The guy was a little bit of a crybaby, but he seemed sincere. He also seemed kind enough to listen to what he had to say...maybe...

He could try.

….but then again…

He sighed, _"This is insane….I barely even know the guy, why am I trying to help him?"_ Dane thought looking down on himself, _"I'm not some mentor or hero who can guide him or something! I just…"_

The words barely escaped his mouth,

_"can't_-

**_"Don't say that!"_**

A voice seemingly answered in his mind. This wasn't just his regular voice however…

Dane looked around the area, there were very few people in the library and most of them were minding their own business whether reading or talking.

_"What the…."_ Before he could finish his _"WTF"_ moment, the voice came back again, this time though, it was **_stronger_**.

**_"Heroes aren't born! They're made!"_**

The voice seemed to have echoed throughout his head. Dane rubbed the sides of his heads and closed in eyes as if he were in pain, but really, he just wanted to figure out if he was going insane or not. These actions didn't just affect him though; it caught the attention of Johnny.

"A-Are you alright?" Johnny responded catching notice of Dane's inner dilemma. He might be no doctor, but he could certainly tell that there were some conspicuous signs that showed that something was up with Dane.

**_"You're over thinking the situation here..."_**

Dane didn't respond to him yet. Not because he was ignoring him, but because he was trying to get a grip on himself. The voice felt oddly nostalgic in his mind.

**_"All you need to do is give him a little boost!"_**

His conscious was out of the question, his voice didn't sound that high pitched or child-like. Did he really eat something that was making him go crazy? At that moment, that looked to be the only option.

"D-Dane?" Johnny kept pushing. He started to become a bit nervy at Dane's behavior.

**_"Just Remember:…"_**

Dane turned in Johnny's direction absentmindedly. Was he doing this not to worry him, or did something else make him do it?

**_"Be cool, calm, and brave! Character Change!"_**

….and then Dane blinked….

* * *

A wave of nostalgia hit a tiny figure as they looked out the window. The figure floated over to a familiar dark clothed man sitting at a desk.

"A Guardian Character hatched somewhere."

The man groaned and continued to smoke his cigarette, "Near the school?"

The tiny figure made a deadpanned face, he retorted sarcastically, "_No_, It's in Canada."

The man got up from his desk and sighed, "Alright! Alright! I heard you!"

"I'll check it out!"

* * *

Dane blinked twice before realizing what he was doing. He saw that he was holding Johnny's hands and he could here several whispers of residents at the library. He dropped Johnny's hands out of his and gave a face of utter bewilderment.

"What.

_The._

**_Fuck…?"_**

All of Dane's cool and calm attitude dropped as he let out a short, but high pitched screech.

_"HUH?!"_

Several people turned to see a disgruntled Dane, but he was more focused on himself than others at the time.

_"What the f-?! What did I-?! When did I-?! I don't even remember a thing I just did! What's wrong with me?! What's the hell's going on?!"_

Dane started stating a series of words to try to make a coherent group of sentences, but his mind was scrambled from the incoming assault of questions and the result of no answers. The look on Johnny's face didn't help him either. He sat there with his mouth partially open and wore the expression like he had just gone through heaven, hell, and reached enlightenment.

Dane, feeling a little calmer at this point, attempted to question Johnny before anything else could occur,

"L-Look I- I-I-I-I," Physically, he couldn't respond. It was like some cosmic force had prevented Dane from doing so.

Johnny tilted his head a bit before, to Dane's surprise, he smiled.

_"WHAT ON EARTH?!"_ Dane couldn't function anymore. First, he had no memory of what he did; next, Johnny was smiling at him. What for? What did he do? Why was he being smiled at?

Before Dane could continue his mess of a conversation, the lunch bell rang.

_Riiiinnnngg. Riinnnnnggg._

Dane might have felt like he was punched, kicked, and stabbed in the gut, but he felt better that the bell had rang at that moment. At least then, he could leave.

Before he could act, Johnny moved first. He grabbed his black side bag, and got up from his seat.

"Thanks for the advice! I really appreciate it…f-friend..." Johnny seemed to blush at the term of 'friends'

If Dane didn't have the power to, he would faint.

"F-Friend?" Dane read into Johnny's words as Johnny went to the exit of the library. Before he left, he slightly shouted and waved his hand,

"See you around!"

He had no clue to what to think now. The only thing Dane could do was sit at the desk table and look at the empty exit with his mouth wide open.

"Yo Dane!" A familiar, yet unnoticeable voice called out to him.

Dane lowered himself so his head banged on the table. He saw other people leaving as well, but he lacked any energy to try and do the same. The entire scene left him helpless and terribly, terribly confused.

"What's the prob? You look…"

Franc then saw the desperate face of Dane Goldstein. It screamed for help and some sort of answer. Anything could satisfy him really.

"Holy Smokes! What the heck happened to you?!"

"Shit happened, " he responded, "It came, went, and screwed me over," Dane knew he was being curt at the moment, but he could care less, he lacked to energy to care at all.

"Gosh, you sure you don't want to go to the nurse or anything? You must be hungry or something-I mean, here!"

Franc dropped his backpack onto the ground and rummaged through its content. He sighed in relief when he pulled out some Gatorade and a generic energy bar.

"Why are giving this to me?"

"Well, I usually use Gatorade for when I do football, it restores the electrolytes in the body…and… all the scientific crap like that that… Either way, it'll help you, hear?" Franc rushed out the last part of his sentence. He shoved the drink and energy bar to Dane. Reluctantly, he took it in his hands, popped open the top, and began to drink it. He took several sips before Franc continued to talk to him.

"You really need to take it easy," He started, "I get this 'thing' is important to you, but you look like a wreck."

"I know," Dane sipped a bit more of the Gatorade.

"Then do it! Don't lay around and do nothin' about it! It'll kill you one day."

Dane gave no reply. What France said was one-hundred percent true.

"Now, listen here, " Franc started as Dane brought down his drink, "I know it's been crappy since your dad left, but….you can't keep doing this to yourself…"

Dane was sure where this was going, Franc was going to give a big, "don't hate yourself, it's not your fault! "speech. Everyone after the divorce did, and even his friends seemed no different about it either.

…until what Franc said next…

"Honestly, if I were you…I'd just say what's going on in your life right now, but i'm not... " he continued, "so since you're so secretive about this, fine, keep it to yourself, just don't do this to yourself again. Kali and Heather looked liked they were going to **_kill_ **you when you didn't come back to lunch," Franc seemed to be complaining, but Dane wasn't too sure.

Then he thought about it…

_"Right…after all I've been doing, they've probably been worrying about me…oh god, I'm terrible…"_ Dane came to a conclusion with himself. He wasn't be a good friend at all….

But they were being good friends to him…

Despite everything he did,his lying, his cold nature, and such, they were still willing to put up with him. Even his sister, who he got into a disagreement with was willing to do the same thing…

…but what had he done to them?

He lied to them about his wellbeing, avoided them when they wanted to help him, and when he had the chance to apologize, he didn't use it due to his uncertain feelings.

Looking at himself, "terrible" was an understatement.

He was _horrid._

France sighed as Dane sipped the last of the Gatorade. Dane could tell France was somewhat tired from worrying about him. Putting the empty bottle on the table, he got up from his seat.

Dane wanted to say something…

..but at the same time, he wasn't sure what to say.

His mind was still scrambled from the incident, and he was still confused about what was happening to him. What he figured was, that maybe, it was stress that was getting to him, but he wasn't sure. In fact, he couldn't tell anything anymore.

He felt like crying.

So he did.

Franc saw the tears glistening from Dane's eyes. He gave a startled expression, not expecting the teen to cry, but he remained composed.

"It's alright," he gave Dane some napkins he stored from lunch from his pocket and patted him on the back,"Just let it go..."

Dane took the napkins and wiped his face. He groomed his bangs to go over his face so France couldn't see the look on his face. From that, Dane felt like laughing at himself. He was still as prideful as he remembered himself to be.

He never felt so embarrassed in his life,

(….minus his meeting with Johnny)

After calming down Franc decided he would bring up the defining question of topic:

"So now that you're done...are you going to let loose a bit?"

Dane nodded his head in response, " Yeah...I'll tell you everything, but for now, please..."

"What the fuck?!"

"Exactly my point," Dane agreed patting his friends back.

"So...let me get this straight:" Franc began as he started to repeat Dane's story. Even for him, the story was kind of absurd.

"You work up late today, got in an argument with Kali, almost lost your purple heart, made a kid cry yesterday and met him today, said something to him you don't remember or mean because of a voice in your head (so now your apparently his friend), are extremely stressed, and thought you were high because you found an egg in your bed?"

"Pretty much sums it up, only out of order."

France paused for a moment before replying in a very outlandish fashion,

"AWESOME!" he yelled at Dane. Dane face palmed, "He really doesn't get it?"

"No, no, I mean-... not the stressed part or Kali or that kid or anything, but the egg."

"Were you even paying attention?! I think I'm completely losing it here!" Dane exclaimed rightfully pissed.

"No! NO! NO! Don't you get it?!"

Dane still couldn't put two and two together. What conclusion was Franc trying to make?

"Get what?"

"Well, minus the kid and the argument with Kali, from what I noticed, I think that the egg has something to do with this."

"The egg? What do you mean?"

"Well since those incidents, the egg appeared, and afterwards you've been facing those struggles as much as you tried avoiding them, right?"

Dane was about to pull the _"That's absolutely crazy! Bullshit!"!_ card on Franc, but…

…he made a decent point now that he thought about it more.

Since the appearance of the egg, Dane's life seemed to change for the worst (in his mind). Sure, he was facing a minor part of his problems, but what was the point? Wasn't he eventually going to face them in the first place?

_...Or was he just hiding?_

"And the point of that is?..."

"Okay, I know it seems like I'm crazy, but…I think this egg is somehow trying to help you."

"Nope!" Dane stood up automatically at the response, "I might have believed you earlier, but no! **_How on earth_** is this thing helping me?!"

"Well, you said it yourself!" Franc retorted slightly pissed, "Didn't you say that you were-I dunno- **_changed_** at a point and said something you didn't mean? Maybe the egg did that?!"

Dane was flabbergasted, "That's…right…" Dane said coming to realization, " I knew Johnny needed someone to help him, but I felt like I couldn't do it…that's when-

The voice kicked in?" Franc continued the sentence. Dane sighed,

"**_Great_**...So now the egg is an issue," Dane didn't know what to think now, this thing he just got out of nowhere was suddenly changing his life.

"Okay, that's a possibility," Franc reassured Dane, "but we should wait, you said it yourself, right? The egg's warm and has cracks, so it should hatch soon. Let's just see what happens."

"Yeah…" Dane stated as he began opened his bag. He figured he would take out the egg to check on it and show to Franc. He felt through his back pack before noticing that the baby blue towel holding the egg was missing it. Dane shuffled through his backpack, before realizing the egg wasn't there.

"NO!" Dane moved away in horror,"The egg's gone!"

Franc remained calm and tried to hush Dane, "Calm down! When did you last have it?!"

"I had it when-

As if automatically, Dane remembered when he snuck it into his pocket after Johnny startled him.

"Damn! I put it in my pocket when Johnny surprised me!" Dane felt his pockets in some hope that he would find what he was looking for, but his pockets remained empty.

"Okay, let's not panic," even Franc was starting to loose his cool a bit, " Maybe it fell around here. It might be your helper, but I don't think it should be rolling around the floor somewhere, I mean-God forbid it breaks!"

Dane slugged Franc's arm, "Don't say stuff like that!" What if-

**_"Hey!"_**

A sudden deep voice yelled at nervous duo. They looked back to see a tall man staring down at them.

_"Shit!"_ The two replied equally in unison.

* * *

I hope you liked this chapter and the cliffhanger...

Anyways, as I said before, please don't expect early chapters(often)...just don't...It all depends how motivated I am to get them out. However, the next chapter WILL be in September. I promise.

My deviantart account if anyone is curious or interested(which most of you probably don't care for) ?qh=§ion=&global=1&q=InfinityYellowA

See you soon!


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